Checked against the source
Discord server banner size
Short answer
Discord's own support article gives a minimum of 960 x 540 px at 16:9, in image or GIF, and says to keep the top 48 px simple because the server name sits over it. Larger uploads are accepted and resized automatically, so 1920 x 1080 px is the practical choice.
Key takeaways
- Discord states the minimum as 960 x 540 px at 16:9, in image or GIF format.
- Larger uploads are accepted and resized automatically, so 1920 x 1080 px costs nothing and avoids cropping on a wide desktop.
- Discord says to keep the top 48 px simple: the server name sits over it. At 960 x 540 px that is 8.9% of the height.
- Banners need Boosting Level 2, animated banners Level 3. Partner servers get them without boosts.
- The article also says larger images are accepted and resized, which is why the crop risk is width rather than height.
The size
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Width | 960 px |
| Height | 540 px |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
What the platform publishes
| What | Published value |
|---|---|
| Minimum | 960 × 540 px, 16:9, image or GIF |
| Larger uploads | 1920 × 1080 px is accepted and resized automatically |
| Top 48 px | Keep simple: the server name sits over it |
| Who can use it | Servers at Boosting Level 2 (animated banners at Level 3) and Partner servers |
Discord's article is several years old; we re-check it with every review.
Source: Discord Support: Server Banners (checked 2026-10-05)
To scale
What each viewport shows
| Viewport | Visible height | Width of the asset shown | Cropped away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop, 1440 px | 810 px | 1440 px of 1920 | 135 px top and bottom |
| Laptop, 1200 px | 675 px | 1200 px of 1920 | 202.5 px top and bottom |
| Tablet, 768 px | 432 px | 768 px of 1920 | 324 px top and bottom |
| Phone, 390 px | 219.4 px | 390 px of 1920 | 430.3 px top and bottom |
What your photo loses
| Source | Scale to fill | Lost each side | Lost top and bottom | Source area kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone photo, 16:9 (4032 x 2268) | 0.238 (max(960 / 4032, 540 / 2268)) | none ((960 - 960) / 2) | none ((540 - 540) / 2) | 5.7% |
| Camera, 3:2 (6000 x 4000) | 0.16 (max(960 / 6000, 540 / 4000)) | none ((960 - 960) / 2) | 50 px ((640 - 540) / 2) | 2.2% |
| Scan at 300 dpi (2480 x 3508) | 0.387 (max(960 / 2480, 540 / 3508)) | none ((960 - 960) / 2) | 409 px ((1357.9 - 540) / 2) | 6% |
Computed cover crop into the 960 x 540 px frame this page targets.
What this frame costs to upload
| Format | File size | Against PNG |
|---|---|---|
| PNG, lossless | 750,841 bytes (733 kB) | the reference |
| JPEG, `-q:v 5` | 94,620 bytes (92 kB) | 13% of the PNG |
| WebP, `-q:v 75` | 36,126 bytes (35 kB) | 5% of the PNG |
ffmpeg 6.1.1. Upper bounds: a flat logo or a soft portrait compresses much further. The full method is in the evidence file.
Resize it now
Scales and center-crops any image to exactly 960 x 540 px, in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, there is no file size cap and no daily limit.
Batch is unlimited and free - every image is processed on your device, so there is no queue and no daily cap.
What Discord publishes
Discord's Server Banners support article states that the image must be at least 960 x 540 pixels at 16:9, that the top 48 pixels should be kept simple because the server name sits over it, and that servers need Boosting Level 2 with animated banners at Level 3. Partner servers are eligible without boosts.
It also says larger images are accepted and resized automatically. That is the reason to upload 1920 x 1080 px: Discord downsizes it, so you get a sharp image on a wide monitor at no cost.
The caveat belongs here rather than in a footnote. The article carries a note that it is several years old, and Discord has moved its boost tiers and banner interface since. It was re-fetched on 2026-10-07 and still carries the same figures, which is why they are used.
| What | Published value |
|---|---|
| Minimum size | 960 x 540 px at 16:9 |
| Format | image or GIF |
| Larger uploads | accepted and resized automatically |
| Top reserve | keep the top 48 px simple |
| Availability | Boosting Level 2; animated at Level 3; Partner servers |
Server Banners, re-checked 2026-10-07.
The 48 px reserve, computed
The server name is drawn over the top of the banner. Because Discord scales the banner, the reserved band scales with it: 48 px of source is 8.9% of the height at 960 x 540 px, and 4.4% at 1920 x 1080 px.
So the practical version is a proportion, not a pixel count: keep the top 9% of the frame simple. Anything small in that band ends up behind the name.
Discord publishes only the top reserve. It mentions nothing about the sides or the bottom, so none is stated here, because inventing the other three would be guesswork dressed as a specification.
Where the banner is shown, and why the larger upload helps
A server banner sits above the channel list on desktop and becomes a header on the mobile channel view. Both surfaces scale the banner to the width of the screen at 16:9.
Computed at 16:9: a 390 px phone shows 390 / 16 × 9 = 219 px of height, a 768 px tablet 432 px, and a 1440 px desktop 810 px. The last of those is wider than the 960 px minimum banner, so at 1440 px the 960 px upload is scaled up and loses sharpness.
Uploading 1920 x 1080 px removes that: at 1440 px the banner is downscaled rather than upscaled. That is the whole argument for the larger file, and it is a sharpness argument rather than a feature one.
The crop table on this page shows what happens when a photo of a different shape is used at the 960 x 540 minimum. A 3:2 camera photo loses 50 px off the top and bottom; a 9:16 clip loses 675 px off each side and keeps only 20.5% of its area.
Format and the boost level
Format is a choice between a still image and an animated one, and the animation has a price. Animated banners require Boosting Level 3, so on a server that is not boosted an animated GIF banner will not appear at all. That is the most common cause of "my animated banner does not show".
In the measured run on this page, 1920 x 1080 px is 249 kB as JPEG and 97 kB as WebP, against 2.6 MB as PNG. The Server Banners article we read on 2026-10-07 gives no file limit, so size is not the constraint here; the boost level and the top 48 px are.
Frequently asked questions
What size is a Discord server banner?
Discord's support article gives a minimum of 960 x 540 px at 16:9, in image or GIF, and says larger uploads are accepted and resized automatically. Upload 1920 x 1080 px for a sharp result on wide screens.
Why can I not add a Discord server banner?
Server banners unlock at Boosting Level 2, animated banners at Level 3. Partner servers get them without boosts. The image must also be at least 960 x 540 px at 16:9.
How much of a Discord banner is covered by the server name?
Discord says to keep the top 48 px simple because the server name sits over it. At the 960 x 540 minimum that is 8.9% of the height, computed as 48 / 540. That article gives a reserve for the top edge only and none for the other three.
Does Discord crop the server banner?
The banner keeps 16:9, so it is scaled to the width of the view. On a viewport wider than your upload the banner is scaled up and loses sharpness rather than being cropped. Uploading 1920 x 1080 px avoids that on any desktop width.
What is the difference between a Discord banner and a server icon?
The banner is a 960 x 540 px minimum 16:9 image above the channel list; the icon is a square shown as a circle in the server rail. Discord's developer documentation allows any power of two between 16 and 4096 for the icon, and the two Discord pages we read on 2026-10-07 give no icon size of their own.
Other Discord sizes
Sources
- Discord Support: Server Banners (checked 2026-10-07)
- Discord Developer Portal: Reference, Image Formats (checked 2026-10-07)